By Daniel Eslick

0

02 Jul 2013 08:35:00

In order to end a long-term boardroom feud, George and John Comitis have decided to sell their Ajax Cape Town shares and hand control over to the Efstathiou family

Ajax Cape Town will have a new CEO and Chairman next season after the Comitis brothers decided to sell their shares and end the bitter feud with the Efstathiou family which plagued the 2012/2013 season.

The boardroom antics almost derailed Ajax Cape Town's PSL status last season, but a late decision to bring Muhsin Ertugral back to the club saved the Urban Warriors from the ignominy of relegation.

George and John Comitis originally offered to buy the Efstathiou family's shares, but released a statement on the club's official website which confirms that they will leave the club and hand complete control over to the Efstathious.

The brothers were influential figures at Ajax Cape Town, with John being a main instigator in forming the club in 1999, while George almost tasted PSL glory in 2011.

The following statement was released by the club in the early hours of Tuesday morning:

"After a very tough season, where we fought hard until the end against the possibility of relegation, and successfully saved our PSL status for next season, one of the families had to take a positive step in putting their personal interests aside for the good of the club. We therefore decided to offer to sell our shares or to buy the shares held by the Efstathiou brothers, at the option of the Efstathiou's, at the same price, which was to us the only fair way to do it.

Cape Town could not afford to lose its last PSL club and we could not allow family feuding to ruin Ajax CT and the relationship with Ajax Amsterdam, which we have nurtured and developed for over 12 years, since putting the deal together which brought Ajax to South Africa in the first place.

The Efsthatiou's have elected to accept our offer to sell our shares, rather than our offer to buy their shares, and we are happy either way that Ajax Cape Town is the winner, with the guidance of Ajax Amsterdam to count on. Our first prize was to remain on, but unless we took this bold step to make this offer, the wrangling would only have continued to harm the club into next season and beyond.

With Muhsin at the helm and the contacts we have already initiated during the off season for the strengthening of the squad, and which we willingly pass over to the new administration, we have every confidence that the club will bounce back and have a successful season.

We would like to thank all the fans personally for embracing us over the years, the football fraternity for supporting us, our loyal staff and every player that has worn the Ajax jersey over the last decade.

We salute you.

We would also like to thank Ajax Amsterdam for what has been an amazing decade of enjoyable success. The Ajax brand has changed the landscape of South African football.

The good times and victories we have experienced at Ajax CT, including the brilliant youth that has emerged through our academy over the years, have far surpassed our expectations."